/// Copyright 2007-8 Faraday Media
/// 
/// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); 
/// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. 
/// You may obtain a copy of the License at 
/// 
///   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 
/// 
/// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software 
/// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, 
/// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. 
/// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and 
/// limitations under the License.
namespace MetaSharp.XML {
  /// <summary>
  /// Defines a converter used for mapping fields between strings and their native representations.
  /// </summary>
  /// <typeparam name="T">the type of the field</typeparam>
  public interface IFieldConverter<T> {
    /// <summary>
    /// Converts to the given type from a string.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="pValue">the string value</param>
    /// <returns>the converted value</returns>
    T FromString(string pValue);

    /// <summary>
    /// Converts the given type to a string.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="pValue">the value in its native format</param>
    /// <returns>the string version</returns>
    string ToString(T pValue);
  }
}
